Fire Crossed Tears
by Ameko
Summary: hehe...A Seifer fic. A Seifer *romance* fic. I'll just tell you right now that it is not Fujin and it's not another guy...or Rinoa either. It's a serious story, not anything silly.


firecrossedtears

Author's Note: This is NOT a Seifer/Fujin fic.

__ ****

Prologue

"RAGE. GET OUT." Fujin went into her room and slammed the door. 

"Aw, Fujin, come on. You know I didn't mean it." 

"MEAN, DID." She yelled through the door. 

Seifer Almasy knew very well that the female member of his posse could talk normally. He also knew that there was no talking to her when she was mad. He knew better than to go bang on her door and try to coax her out. Sometimes it worked, but usually he only succeeded in making her angrier. 

He hadn't _meant _to make her mad. He never did. Almost never did. Sighing, he grabbed his coat from the shelf and stormed out of the tiny oceanside cottage into the dark night.

He didn't notice the figure leaning against the wall, no more visible than a shadow in the starless night.

A sigh from the shape was very audible. "Oh, Seifer." A soft voice said regretfully. "You never _used _to be such a bad boy." 

Fire Crossed Tears

Ellone was back. That scared some people at Balamb Garden. They remembered what had happened last time that Ellone had come to Garden. 

She assured Squall and Headmaster Cid that nothing was wrong. 

"I'm lonely." The young woman explained. "Laguna's so busy with his job, and I don't have any friends in Esthar. People tend to be frightened of me. I wanted to come visit my little brother for a while." She smiled at Squall. "Laguna sends his greetings. He told me to ask you if you might come visit sometime."

Squall, embarrassed, muttered something similar to, "I'll think about it," and exited the room, with a quick goodbye to Ellone. 

"The rooms here are only for SeeDs and cadets, but I'm sure we can make an exception. We did for Miss Heartilly, and I'm sure you won't break any of our rules." Cid said.

"Oh, no. I won't be here very often, maybe for some meals and to use the library, and of course to sleep. I plan to spend most of my time in Balamb. I have a job there, in the hotel." Ellone explained. 

"Oh. Well, it should be no problem then." The Headmaster decided. Ellone left the room as well, carrying a small suitcase. 

Ellone

A few days passed. I settled into the routine of life in Balamb. It was really nice here. My room had a nice view of the ocean, and I wasn't disturbed late at night as I would have been had I stayed in the Balamb Hotel.

I had led Cid to believe, purposely, that my job at the Balamb Hotel was more innocent than it in reality was, I realized as I got dressed. I wasn't one of the dancers or other performers, but I did work the bar and that required a certain type of outfit.

I pulled the short black tank top over my head, and squirmed my way into the matching short skirt. The shirt did not go all the way to the top of the skirt, which only went about halfway to my knees, and I felt a little exposed. The money was good though, and I wasn't doing anything more harmless than serving drinks. While I knew Laguna would be very upset if he found out I had this type of job, and worried for my safety, I could take care of myself. 

Besides, I had spent my whole life doing good things. It was time to loosen up a little. Besides, I was almost twenty-four, and this was my life.

I zipped up my boots and brushed my hair. I put my other clothes back into the locker, and stepped out into the hallway.

There was a small room located at the back of the hotel for workers who couldn't wear their uniforms to work for some reason. I made good use of it. I stepped into the kitchen and got my assignment, and then stepped out into the dining room.

It was noisy as usual. Many of the patrons were male, again, that was the usual. I couldn't see anyone I knew, and as I did each night this was true, I thanked Raine, who I knew was looking out for me.

She had always told me that someday she would have to leave me, but that she would never be entirely gone. 

I missed her a lot. I always had. I had thought of her as my mother. As sad as it seemed, I could not remember my birth mother. Raine was the one I always remembered, the one who sang me songs at night and told me stories, she was the one to hold me when I cried and to punish me when I got into mischief. Which had been pretty often, I recalled with a smile. 

My shift was nearly over when I saw someone I recognized, and my heart jumped into my throat. Seifer Almasy walked in the room and sat down. Of course, I was told to take his order.

"Where are you?" I asked through gritted teeth in somewhat of a skyward direction. 

I had not forgotten that Seifer had kidnapped me a year ago to give me to Edea. I wondered if he had even changed. That one girl, Fujin, had tried to talk some sense into him. I wondered if they were together. I felt something strange at that thought. It couldn't have been jealousy.

I dragged my feet over to his table. My short hair fell forward, but it didn't quite cover my face. I knew he would be able to recognize me.

"Are you ready to order?" I asked.

"Ellone?" Seifer asked incredulously. 

I looked up. "Yeah, it's me." 

He laughed. "I never would have thought you worked here." Strangely, he didn't sound rude.

"Well, I do. Are you ready to order or should I come back in a few minutes."

"Give me a minute." I turned to leave but he called me back. "Hey, don't leave yet. I wanna talk to you."

I laughed, a short, disbelieving laugh. "Why?" 

"Just sit down." He invited. 

I looked back to the bar. No one was watching me, and my shift was about over anyway. Why was I even considering this?

"Well, Fujin and I were talkin' a while back," he began, leaning forward earnestly. "It was wrong what I did, to try and turn you over to Edea."

"You think?" I asked.

He ignored me. "I'm sorry." He said. That's it. No excuses, no explanations, just an apology.

I blinked my eyes. Seifer Almasy was sorry for something? I didn't know him, but Squall had filled me in on his reputation. 

"Is this the first time you've ever apologized to anyone?" I asked, my question only half-sarcastic.

He pretended to think for a minute. Well, for all I know, he could have actually been trying to remember. "Yeah, I think so. At least in the recent past."

I laughed. "Aren't I lucky." I remembered the other night when I had stopped by his house on the way to work. He fought with his friends, especially Fujin, often. I was surprised they were still his friends. "I forgive you, I guess. I really don't see any reason not to. That's all in the past." I said.

He nodded.

"Well, my shift is over," I told him. "I'll see you around, I guess."

"Didn't you come over here to take my order?"

"Oh, yeah. I'll send someone else over." I promised.

"Don't bother. I wasn't that thirsty anyway." He said, laughing. 

I made a face. "Very funny." 

"Hey, were you going to leave right away?" He asked as I got up to leave. It sounded like he had wanted to say it for a few minutes, but had just blurted it out now.

"I was going to, but I don't have to." I said, surprised. "Why?"

"Well, I was just going to ask if you wanted to have a drink."

Okay, now I was shocked. "Huh?" And speechless.

"Do you want to have a drink with me?"

"What, like a date?" I asked, remembering how to speak coherent sentences again.

"I guess so." He said. Did he sound a little bit afraid?

"Um...Let me think about it for a minute." I thought for a minute. Seifer had asked me to have a drink with him. Out of his own mouth, that could be the equivalent of a date to him. So he had asked me on a date. That meant that he was interested in me in some way. I refused to let myself think about that right now, and instead thought of some reason I could avoid him until I figured out what I thought about him.

"So, you want to go out with me?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said. "I want to."

"I'll go out with you if you don't fight with your friends for a week." I said, and then I was shocked at myself. I had just agreed to go out with Seifer Almasy. Squall would have my head. I smiled slightly and looked for his reaction.

"Fujin and Raijin?" He asked.

"They're your friends, right?" I asked, knowing I had remembered right.

"Yeah. We're friends. But fighting is a part of our friendship!" He said.

"Uh-huh. I believe that."

Surprisingly he agreed. "All right. I'll meet you here next Wednesday."

"Thursday. That's my day off." I corrected. "And I'll come to your house. I'll have to see what Fujin and Raijin say about your behavior."

He groaned. "You don't trust me, do you?"

"Seifer, I don't think anyone trusts you." I said laughingly. He grinned. I stood up and then I turned back around.

"You know, I just thought of something. Why do you want to go out with me?"

He looked thoughtful. "You know, I don't really know why. I just thought I'd ask you and see what you said."

"That's as good a reason as any, I guess." I said, shrugging. 

"Later, Seifer." I said.

"Later, Ellone." He called after my retreating back. I smiled as I walked through the swinging door.

Seifer

I sat at the table for a few more minutes before getting up to leave. As I walked home through the back alleys, I realized that I felt better than I had in weeks. I stopped by a flower shop and picked up a bouquet of roses for Fujin. I had a lot of money left, and so I wasn't surprised when, ten minutes later as I traversed the alleys once more, I heard rough voices in the night behind me. 

"There he is."

"Let's go."

"Get the money, knock him out. Don't kill him. We can have our fun later." 

I swore and ran. I knew these alleys well, but unfortunately, they knew them better. I ran faster, but I also tired more quickly.

They were gaining on me when I tossed a Phoenix Pinion into the air. I didn't stay to see what happened.

Panting, I reached the cottage, and opened the door as quietly as I could. Fujin and Raijin were watching TV on the couch. Fujin was curled up with her head on Raijin's chest.

"Fujie?" I said as I stepped into the room.

"What do you want, Seifer?" She asked without batting an eyelash.

"To apologize." That got her attention. She muted the television with the remote control and sat up to face me. 

"That's something new." She said. I pulled the roses out from behind my back and handed them to her. 

"I've decided to turn over a new leaf. I've seen the error of my ways and I realized that since you guys are my friends, and have stuck by me all the time, I should probably be treatin' you better. You don't deserve this."

They shared a look that said plainly, "He's wasted." I laughed. "Think what you want, but this is the new Seifer and he's here to stay."

I left the room and went to take a shower. I could hear Raijin talking. "If he's not wasted, then he's dying, ya know?"

I laughed. They'd see. 

Ellone

In my bed at night, I stared at the ceiling, trying to sort out the feelings that I could not be feeling. 

Why had I agreed to go out with Seifer? He was my brother's mortal enemy, and all that aside, he had kidnapped me a year ago. 

True, he had apologized, but he had been going to give me to an insane sorceress who wanted to kill me! But when he had asked me if I'd go on a date with him, I hadn't needed to give his proposal a second thought. 

There was no way I'd go out with him unless he was nicer to his friends. I knew he cared about them, but I figured they didn't know that like he did. He had a funny way of showing his feelings, but I thought that I'd figure out whether he really liked me or not by that. If he was just looking to get me into bed, he wouldn't change. If he _was_ really interested in me, well…I would see.

I didn't go to work the next day. Like I had told Seifer, I had Thursdays off. I spent the morning with Squall and his friends, and I did some work in the library later in the evening. 

Friday I was back at work. I was pretty surprised when Seifer walked in and sat at the same table he had sat at two nights ago. I pulled Sara, one of the dancers, over into a corner and pointed him out.

"Who's that?" I asked her.

"I don't know his name but he's been coming here every night for a week. Before that he only came about twice a week. He's a regular. Sometimes he comes in with some friends, an albino girl and a tough-looking guy. Everyone says they're his bodyguards."

She had to leave then, and I pulled that apart in my head for a minute. If he had been coming here before I worked here, then that meant he wasn't just here tonight to see me. I didn't care though, did I? I think that I did, even if it was just a little.

Before I could try and figure out what that meant, I was told to stop standing around and do the job I was being paid for, so I ducked out the door before anyone could tell me where to go and went over to where Seifer was sitting. 

"Are you ready to order?" I asked, grinning. 

He looked up. "Ellone!" He seemed genuinely happy to see me, but I wasn't sure. It could have been faked.

"Hi." I said.

"I didn't see you yesterday. I asked and they said it was your night off, then I remembered you told me that Wednesday."

"Yeah, I was at Garden. I had some things I needed to do in the library."

"Oh. Well, you can come over to my place any time you want. I'm sure Fujin and Raijin would love to see you."

I laughed. "Maybe."

"Maybe you'll come or maybe they'd like to see you?"

"Both, I guess." I said, not promising anything. 

He grinned. "I'm turnin' over a new leaf, you know. No more fighting."

I raised my eyebrows. "That's nice."

"I'm not jokin'!" He protested. 

"I'll believe it when I see it." I said.

"So come over to my house." He suggested.

"I'll think about it. Right now I have a job to do."

"Oh, yeah." He thought for a minute while I waited. "Just give me a beer."

"I'll be back in a minute." I said, leaving his table. When I got back behind the counter, Sara looked at me carefully.

"What are you smiling about?"

"Oh, nothing." I said. I looked in the mirror as I passed. There was a bit of a smile on my face, and I hadn't even realized it. I sighed happily and went to go get Seifer's order. 

When I was finally finished working for the night, I dragged my tired feet to the locker room. I pulled on a skirt that wasn't much longer than the one I was wearing now, and changed my uniform shirt for a white long-sleeved shirt that looked nice with the forest green skirt.

I was so tired walking out the door that I didn't notice Seifer until he spoke. 

"I don't think you can walk with your eyes closed." I jumped. He laughed. 

"That was _not_ funny." I said, my laugh defeating my argument.

"But you're laughing" he pointed out needlessly. 

"It's been hours since you left," I said. "Why'd you walk all the way back here?"

"Well, I meant it when I invited you over. I told Fujin and Raijin that I was bringing the best girl in the world to meet them. Now they can't wait to see you."

I was glad that the darkness hid my blushing. "They've already met me." I reminded him. 

"They don't know that." 

I rolled my eyes. "Seifer…" I began, and then stopped. 

"What?" 

"Never mind." 

"All right. So, are you comin' with me or not?"

"I guess I'll go. No one's expecting me."

He grabbed my hand and led me down the road. 

I didn't tell him that I already knew where his house was. I wanted to keep my nighttime expeditions to myself. He didn't need to know, anyway. 

It didn't take that long to get to the cottage. It was small, and I didn't see how three people could live in that space. That was their choice, though. None of them were SeeDs, and I was pretty sure none of them had jobs. How they managed to survive at all was a mystery to me, but it said a lot for their stamina and determination. 

When we got there, Seifer pushed open the door. "Fujin, Raijin, I'm home!" 

Seifer

I didn't tell Ellone that Fujin and Raijin knew I was bringing her back here. When I told them that I had met a girl, they wouldn't leave me alone until I told them who she was. They were pretty surprised that I had fallen for Ellone Loire, but they didn't say anything else.

I really liked Ellone. Rinoa was a fling, I was seventeen and I didn't know a thing about love or romance. This was different though. I was being assaulted by feelings that I didn't know I could have about anyone. I talked to Fujin, the only girl besides Ellone who didn't hate me, and she told me that I was in love with Ellone. 

It was funny, really. I'm not a love-at-first-sight kinda guy. But Ellone made me feel like my whole world had changed. I was willing to change everything around for her. 

Of course, I didn't believe what Fujin had said right away. I had exercised my vocabulary by swearing in every language I knew and then, when I ran out of things to say, starting all over again. I took my Hyperion and slashed some holes in the metal wall behind our dump, and yelled some more. I threw Hyperion on the ground and after jumping up and down on it, I decided that doing things of that sort wouldn't solve anything and calmly went back inside.

That was Thursday. Today was Friday and I was still going insane. I, Seifer Almasy, was not invulnerable to human emotions, no matter how much I had tried to be. That was life. I was going to have to deal with it. 

When I pushed open the door and yelled to Fujin and Raijin that I was home, I didn't expect them to come running.

They did.

"Ellone! It's nice to see you again, ya know?" Raijin said, as if he hadn't helped me kidnap her a year ago.

Fujin just smiled and nodded. 

"Seifer's been talking about you all the time. He really likes you, ya know?" Raijin went on. Ellone grinned and I turned red. Maybe this had been a bad idea…

They dragged us out to the kitchen, and made Ellone sit down and Fujin kicked me when I didn't ask right away if she wanted anything. Rubbing my shin, I rummaged in a cabinet for a clean cup. There wasn't too many of those to be had around here.

All four of us talked late into the night. When Raijin started snoring in the middle of a sentence, Ellone took a quick glance at the clock.

"Oh, no. I should have left hours ago." She said.

"It's all right." Fujin said, her first words in a long time. Raijin had commandeered most of the conversation, with the rest of us throwing in a few words here in there. "I've got an extra bed in my room. You can stay here for what's left of the night, if you want to."

She seemed a little surprised at the offer, why, I didn't know. Fujin never had any other girls to talk to, and while she insisted that girls other than her were dumb and empty-headed, I had a feeling that she missed their companionship a lot more than she was letting on. Ellone was neither dumb nor empty-headed, and she didn't act like it, either. She was very down-to-earth. I wouldn't be surprised if she and Fujin turned out to be very close.

Ellone agreed to Fujin's suggestion, and they left the room. I poked Raijin in hopes of waking him up, but he snored on. I shrugged. He'd slept in worse places than a kitchen table. We all had. He'd survive. With that thought, I followed Fujin and Ellone out of the room so I could make preparations for my own place to crash for the night. 

Ellone

Once I got settled in the extra bed in Fujin's room, it was another two hours before I slept. Fujin and I had our own private girl conversation. 

I hadn't had anyone to talk to about matters of the heart or other things like that for a long time. The ship was busy, and the White SeeDs had their hands full protecting me. I had not had a real conversation with a girl near my age for a few years. I was longing for friendship and Fujin was right here.

"What's it like, living here with Seifer and Raijin?" I asked.

"It's not too horrible," She said. Her voice was quiet, and a bit harsh. I knew that she could talk normally, and I also knew that she didn't like to. So I was honored when she spoke to me as she spoke to her closest friends. "Raijin's great, but Seifer's annoying sometimes. When he's in a good mood, though, he's a good guy."

I smiled. "I believe you."

She looked at me carefully. "Damn." She said appraisingly. "I don't believe it. You're in love with him."

"I am not!" 

"Yes, you are. I can tell."

I blushed under her gaze. "Well, so what if I am?"

She laughed. "You're taking it better than he did."

"What are you talking about?" I asked curiously. 

"Well, the other day he came and told me that he felt really weird. He said he couldn't stop thinking about you and some other junk. I told him he was in love."

"And? What did he do?" 

She laughed. "He swore for about ten minutes straight, went out and slashed up a sheet of metal out back, swore some more, threw down his Hyperion and stomped on it, and then went back inside singing some love song." 

We both burst out laughing. "You know what's really funny?" She asked. "No one would have ever suspected that the great Seifer Almasy, of all people, would fall in love. And with Squall Leonhart's sister, none the less."

"Well, I don't know about that." I said. "Back when you guys kidnapped me, when you made that little speech, I thought maybe you and Seifer had something going on."

"No," she said. "For a while, I wished we did, but I decided that he was never going to like me. So I grew out of it. It's Raijin and I, now." 

We sat in silence for a minute. "Would you have anything to do with the way Seifer's been acting lately?" She asked me.

"I might. How has he been acting?"

She thought for a minute. "Well, I don't know. Definitely not normal though. He's really nice. He actually cleans up after himself, he brought me roses the other night, and he doesn't pick arguments with us anymore."

"Yeah. I did that. Well, I don't know if it's entirely me, but he asked me out and I told him I'd only go out with him if he was nice to you guys for a week."

"Oh, it won't last then." She said.

"Don't bet on that." I said, grinning. 

"You wouldn't." She said.

"I might." 

We laughed again. "You know," she said, "I can kind of see why he likes you. Rinoa was really nice, and smart and everything, but she wasn't really the type to issue him an ultimatum before she would go out with him. Well, not then anyway." She amended. "I hear she's changed a lot."

"Yeah," I agreed. "She's very nice, but she won't let Squall get away with anything. She's really good for him. Speaking of him, you know, he's not really my brother."

"He isn't?"

"No. My real mother and father died in some kind of accident, and Squall's mother, Raine, took care of me after that. She had him when I was five."

"So you're what, twenty-three?"

"I'll be twenty-four in two months."

"Seifer's only nineteen. You know that, right?"

"I didn't. He looks a lot older."

"Does that change the way you feel about him?"

I raised my eyebrows. She was quick. "Not really, no. I'd prefer someone older, but as you pointed out, I'm in love with him, not someone older. So it doesn't really matter."

"You're right, you know."

"Thanks. By the way, does Seifer still hate Squall?"

"No. I don't think he ever really did. He admired him and wished he could be like him, he wished he were as good as he was. I think, in a different world, they would have been friends. Things just didn't work out that way in this world."

"I think so too." I said. I was about to drift off to sleep when I thought of something. 

"Fujin?" I called softly. She had been quiet for a while so she probably was asleep. She wasn't.

"What?"

"Have you ever seen Seifer with his shirt off?" We both cracked up, and then I sat up on the bed, crossed my legs, and leaned forward to listen intently of her description of Seifer's naked chest. I was, after all, just a girl.

Seifer

Stretched out on my bed in the dark room, I stared at the ceiling. I couldn't sleep. From time to time, I could hear giggles from Fujin's room. The walls here were really thin. Once, they laughed so hard I thought that one of them might explode.

I tossed and turned, thinking about Ellone. Was Fujin right? Was I in love with her?

Impossible.

Maybe it was possible. Maybe I was in love with Ellone. 

I said it out loud, just to see how it sounds. "I love Ellone." The words sounded strange, coming out of my mouth. They hung in the night, and I grinned.

"I love Ellone."

Ellone

Seifer kept his side of the deal, and Thursday evening he took me down to the docks in Balamb.

"I come here sometimes when I need to think." He told me. "This is my favorite place to go. I wanted to show it to you."

I smiled. "That's nice of you."

He turned to me earnestly. "I'm sorry I couldn't take you anywhere nice. I just don't have the money. No one will give me a job, because of the things I've done in the past, and-" I held a finger to his lips.

"It's all right. This is perfect. Next week, though, I'll take us somewhere nice. Okay?"

"Next week? There's going to be a next week?"

"I don't know. Do you want there to be?" I asked teasingly. 

"Yes!" He said. I could see in his eyes that he was telling the truth.

He sat down on the edge of the dock, his legs dangling over the side. I went to sit down next to him, and he pulled me close. 

He put slipped his arm around me, and I leaned my head on his shoulder, swinging my legs back and forth.

You could have cut the silence between us with a knife.

"Ellone?"

"I'm listening." Raine was a little more sarcastic than little girls needed to hear, as was evident in my voice now, never mind she had died when I was five.

"I love you." The way he said it, it sounded like he was afraid I wouldn't say it back. He didn't need to worry.

I pulled away from him, and turned to look him in the eyes. "Promise?" I asked, remembering an incident at the orphanage…

__

**flashback**

Seifer kicked the rock. Elle tiptoed up behind him, and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Seifer, you got to stop bein' mean to Zell. You made him cry again.

"He's a crybaby!"

Elle kneeled next to Seifer so she was about his height. "I'll tell you a secret. He is a crybaby. But he's nice, when he isn't crying, and if you're nice to him he won't cry so much." She told Seifer with the reasoning of a ten-year-old.

He thought about it for a minute. "I won't be mean to him no more. Well, at least not 'til next week." He amended, thinking that his first promise could prove hard to keep.

"Promise?" Elle asked.

"Cross my heart."

**end flashback**

He looked at me and smiled, remembering the same thing I did. "Cross my heart" he replied. "And not only until next week." I laughed, knowing that he did love me, and threw my arms around him. He pulled away, just enough so that he could kiss me. The kiss grew heated and passionate, and when he reached to the hem of my shirt, I broke the kiss off.

"Not here." I told him. 

"You're probably right." He sighed. 

"Aren't Fujin and Raijin at that party?" I asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"No one's at your house." I told him. "Let's go there."

His eyes widened. "Are you sure?" 

"Yeah. I'm sure." I stood up and took his hand.

His house was only a minute or two away, and the instant I shut the door he was kissing me again as soon as I turned around. His hands roamed over my body, pulling at my clothes. I helped him with his clothes and pushed him in the general direction of the bedroom. He shut the door behind us and pulled me over to the bed, still kissing me. I slid my hands down his back and his hands traveled from my waist to a spot a little higher on my body. He ran his fingers through my hair and kissed my hair, my face, and my hands, and then he pulled me down onto the bed.

Later, I lay next to him; both of us entangled in the sheets. He worked his legs free and wrapped them around mine, pulling me closer to him. I could feel his warm breath on my hair, and I sighed happily.

"Ellone?" He asked after a while.

"Yeah?" 

"Will you come live here instead of Garden?" 

I looked up at him. "You want me to?"

"I asked you, didn't I?" 

"I'd love to," I said, a little surprised. "But you should make sure it's all right with Raijin and Fujin."

"I will. I don't think they'll mind, though."

He kissed my bare shoulder and I reached up to touch his scar. He closed his eyes and I leaned my head on his chest and we slept.

A month or so passed. Squall wondered why I left Garden, but he didn't ask me why. I still visited him, and everyone else, but I spent most of my time with Seifer, and of course, Fujin and Raijin. The four of us were good friends now. 

I still worked at the Balamb Hotel, and years later, I wished that maybe I had called in sick that night, or that I had left earlier. But no, fate had it that my life took a turn for the worst that night.

Seifer was waiting outside for me, as he always did, and since I was the last person to leave that night, I pulled him inside for a quick kiss. Well, quick times about five minutes. 

Finally I pulled away. "We should leave now. It's getting close to eleven thirty."

"All right." He said reluctantly. 

"Don't worry." I said. "Just wait until we get home."

"Is that a threat?"

"You'd better believe it." I said, laughing. I locked the door behind me and we headed home, walking along the beach. 

Twice I thought I heard something behind me, but I wrote it off to my imagination. Later, I wished I had said something to Seifer.

We were within yards of the house when they attacked. Someone grabbed me from behind and I screamed when two others grabbed Seifer. 

"No one runs away from us." The biggest one growled. My hands were tightly held behind my back and I could not move them. I screamed again, which provoked the person holding me to cuff my head. I saw Fujin and Raijin running towards us, and relieved, I held still. The other men were two busy pounding on Seifer to see them, and when the one holding me finally decided to call out a warning, the sharp blade of Fujin's Shuriken stole the words from his throat. Raijin's staff took care of the other two, but not before one sunk a blade into Seifer's chest. 

I ran to his side, and pressed my hands to his chest, trying in vain to stop the blood that flowed freely.

Fujin and Raijin stood behind me, silent tears creeping down their cheeks.

"Elle…" Seifer gasped out. "It's no use…"

"Seifer, you can't die." I cried, feeling like this was all a bad dream. "Don't leave me, please! I love you…"

My words were in vain. "Love…you…Ellone." He said, and then he was still. His eyes stared up into the night, unblinking, until later, it could have been a minute or an hour, when Fujin reached down and closed them.

The funeral was held at Garden. Everyone came to pay their respects, whether out of courtesy for me or Seifer I couldn't be sure. 

Squall stayed for a while, and I talked to him, but finally he left, leaving Fujin and I standing next to Seifer's grave. Raijin had left crying in the middle of his speech.

"You know," I started, and then I stopped.

"What?" she asked softly.

"When…when I first saw him on the ground, with the blood covering his chest, the first thing I thought was, 'Give me the knife. I want to be with him, whether I am dead or alive.' I love him that much." My tears fell freely onto the grass.

"I'm glad you stayed here." Fujin said, placing a hand on my shoulder. She enfolded me into an embrace and I cried into my best friends' shoulder.

After a while, she spoke. "What stopped you?" She wanted to know. "Why did you stay?"

I pulled out of the embrace and, looking at her carefully, placed a hand on my stomach. "I'm not the only one I have to worry about now." I smiled slightly through my tears.

Five Years Later

A little girl made her way through tall waving grasses, aimlessly heading towards a gravestone at the top of a hill. A young woman walked behind her, slowly. 

"Raine, slow down." She called. The girl giggled and didn't obey. She began to run, and when she stumbled, the woman was instantly at her side. She soothed the tiny scratch on the little girl's leg, and carried her the rest of the way up the hill. 

The pair sat down next to the gravestone. Little Raine was sprawled all over the ground, while her mother kneeled in front of the stone. It read "Seifer Almasy", and the date of his birth and death. 

"Raine, listen to me, please." The little girl turned to the woman, her emerald eyes questioning. She had soft brown hair, cropped short around her shoulders. The sun shining down brought out the golden highlights in the fawn-colored locks.

"Mama? Who's in here?" she understood the concept of graves, but not this one, yet

"Raine, this is your daddy." The woman said softly, her voice sad.

"Daddy?" The little girl asked, and then turned her attention to a rabbit scampering through the grass.

"Never mind, darling." The young mother said. "I'll tell you when you're older." She stood up and looked down at the stone sadly.

"I still love you." She said, her voice no more than a sigh. 

"I wish you could have seen Raine, when she was born, when she took her first steps, when she said her first word. It wasn't Mama." She laughed ruefully. "She said, 'Hy-per-on'. Fujin shows her your Hyperion every day, and I guess she just picked it up. Mama was next, and Fujin and Raijin followed in quick succession." The young woman sighed. "I wish that you could be here. But I know you're up there watching me. You know, I took your name. No one knows that we never married, and in a way, it's like you're still here. Raine will grow up knowing you, I swear." 

She sighed again. "I'll love you forever. I promise."

Turning away from the grave and taking her daughter's hand, Ellone Almasy walked down the hill without a backward glance.

~fin~ 


End file.
